AMBA Mediterranean Grill — Restaurant in Joliet

Wonderful! Food is great. Service is great. Atmosphere is great. "Spread hummus not hate" is my new mantra....

First the food. It's all about choice. Try to decide do you want a bowl? A wrap? A pita? Then add rice or bulgur or both? Then there's like 10.other choices from hummus to.lettuce. Then you choose up to 2 proteins or just go veggie.... then there's even more toppings from pickeled onions (which were great) to cucumbers, and so much more (probably another 10 choices here) then you choose a sauce (i went with the Amba sauce which was a mango puree with other seasonings). Oh and don't forget the falafel or fries. Finish the meal with a choice of teas, bottleed drink.or a lemon ginger drink (which i had and it was awesome!).

Beyond the amazing amount of choices, I think the true magic here is the FLAVOR. There's so many different spices but they all blend so well and there's not one that over powers anything. You take a bite and you're like oh there's some cumin here, let it linger and then you're like oooh sumac and on and on. It's a continuous flavorfest.

Then there's the service. We went on a Saturday night around 730 pm. It was busy. People were seated at several tables. There was a lot of take out and there was a short line. We dined in and noted that there was a constant flow. Now with so many choices, and honestly for many people probably new choices, you could get overwhelmed. This is where the service comes in. Unsure about something? Just ask. They're. More than happy to explain. Honestly, if they sense doubt they start giving a brief explanation (my daughter didn't ask about anything but she did say "I've never heard of these tbings..." and he explained each for her). You're guided through each station (kindof like subway or Chipotle). Each counter person seemed to enjoy their job and seemed to be genuinely happy to help you.

Atmosphere is very upbeat. This starts with the service where you a greeted with smile (despite wearing face masks you can tell they're happy to help you). Light up beat pop music (not annoying just relaxed). Very clean and bright.

All in all, we got the feeling that this was a family that wanted to share their food and flavors with the world all while, as their shirts say, "Spread[ing] Hummus Not Hate". Btw they should sell those shirts we would have bought a few.

Will we be back? ABSOLUTELY. Do we recommend...

Ordered today about an hour ago. Took food home and it is tasty but a few things that could use improvement.

Your steak is overcooked dry and flavorless. I'm Mediterranean and been to plenty of these types of places and the meat is the key and the sauce.

Cleanliness is poor. The tops of your food covers are dirty, your staff doesn't change their gloves after they touch the check out pad that your customers use which also was gross and greasy, the door has tons of greasy fingerprints all over it. Now I lived in NYC for awhile and the best places weren't the cleanest but the food was lite. Your food isn't quite there yet for me to bypass the cleanliness.

Your overall menu is too small and the place to order is confusing. You should put clear directions on where to order and make your menu bigger.

The additives to the food is great quality and the sauces are great. Some could be better such as the corn quality seemed hard.

Pricing is fair only if you fix some of the issues.

I don't plan on coming back because of these issues. Being in a business for a year is critical to maintain your appearance. If you fix the issues I would be a loyal customer as I don't live far, but I have other options that I would travel to such as a place in Bolingbrook or Naperville. I wish your business well and hope these are addressed because you could have a really good restaurant...

AMAZING! Fantastic food and impeccable service at a local, family-owned restaurant run by Rami and his brother. Rami truly served us: he enthusiastically invited us to ask questions and try everything before we made decisions on what we wanted. He generously kept giving samples and seemed genuinely excited that we had chosen to come to AMBA looking for a little adventure. We were NOT disappointed! Everything we tried was phenomenal! We shared 3 separate bowls of various combinations of proteins and vegetables and we loved them all (one vegetarian, one chicken, one beef). Their tzatziki and baba ghanoush were fantastic, and all of their varieties of homemade hummus were so deeply flavorful. But it was Rami’s passion and joy in serving us that really stood out. We asked so many questions, and he loved telling us about his father and the family history in the restaurant business, along with the recipes that have been passed down for generations. This was truly a special experience! The process of ordering is quite easy, especially with such helpful staff, and everything is laid out in front of you as you go (and there are also signs and descriptions of ingredients that are quite handy). If you’re anywhere near Joliet or just driving through, you need to...